Jeremy Brecher observes, "From the day Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, thousands of people began to resist his agenda. Demonstrations against Trump broke out in American cities; police chiefs, mayors, and governors declared they would not implement his attack on immigrants; thousands of people signed up to accompany threatened immigrants, religious minorities, and women; technical workers pledged they would not build data bases to facilitate discrimination and deportation. Discussion of how to resist the Trump regime broke out at dining room tables, emails among friends, social media, and community gatherings." He warns that the future of the planet and its people depends on resisting and overcoming Trump’s agenda. "The struggle against Trump and Trumpism is nothing less than the defense of society – Social Self-Defense," he says. [More]

A left-wing political group released a new video Monday of a counter-sting that has uncovered evidence of right-wing activists trying to sow chaos at Donald Trump’s inaugural ceremony, an effort to portray critics of Trump who march against him as violent fringe figures. The counter-sting managed to surreptitiously record elements of provocateur offering huge sums of money to progressive activists if they would disrupt the ceremony and 'put a stop to the inauguration' and the related proceedings to such a degree that donors to the clandestine effort would 'turn on a TV and maybe not even see Trump.' To have riots blot out coverage of Trump, the donor offered “unlimited resources,” including to shut down bridges into D.C. [View the video] Also see: Unicorn Riot obtained this 135-page manual to train local police forces in tactics to quell protests.

Michael Hirsch, Saulo Colon, Murray Schneider and Lois Weiner offer their analysis of the election and suggest what the labor movement should have done and what it must do now to respond to Trump's neoliberal agenda. They respond critically to views expressed by Larry Cohen, former CWA President who was labor strategist in the Sanders campaign, and Randi Weingarten, President of AFT, and Leo Casey, also of AFT, both of whom supported Clinton. They begin, "First we need to clarify why Donald Trump won. Casey and Weingarten excuse a blundering campaign strategy and a candidate tarnished by her support for economic policies that harmed millions of working people, including union members. . . . Ironically, it is the workers who mistakenly voted for Trump who will be those most hurt by his administration. The union officials and political experts who were responsible for Clinton’s failed campaign will be relatively unscathed." [More] Also see: Trump Means War

Chris Mooney warns, "An enormous rift in one of Antarctica’s largest ice shelves grew dramatically over the past month, and a chunk nearly the size of Delaware could break away as soon as later this winter. . . . If this happens, it could accelerate a further breakup of the ice shelf, essentially removing a massive cork of ice that keeps some of Antarctica’s glaciers from flowing into the ocean. The long term result, scientists project, could be to noticeably raise global sea levels by 10 centimeters, or almost four inches. It’s the latest sign of major ice loss in the fast warming Antarctic Peninsula, which has already seen the breakup of two other shelves in the same region, events that have been widely attributed to climate change." [More]

Vijay Prashad reminds us that the reactions are easier when the West can walk away from its deep complicity in the suffering that is the consequence of terrorist attacks in other countries, particularly when it can blame petty autocrats and the Russians for everything. "Someone else, surely, is at fault. How can the West take political and emotional responsibility for the actions of others who have their own will? It is a fair question. Autocrats and tyrants do have their own will, and they do often exercise it with great brutality against those who deign to challenge them. But do the autocrats control the destiny of their countries, or do other – malevolent – forces surround them, driving people to desperation and into the jaws of death?" [More]

John Upton explains that with Trump and Republicans in Congress widely expected to unite to undermine federal environmental protections, progressive states and cities are making plans to fight global warming within their borders without being helped or required to do so by the U.S. government. But, Deborah Raphael, director of San Francisco’s environment department, which has helped city lawmakers craft rules mandating everything from greener buildings to composting and recycling by residents, says, “Preemption is probably the progressive cities’ worst nightmare,” said “It’s also the state of California’s worst nightmare.” [More]

A recent report to Congress reveals that America’s nuclear arsenal is getting billions of dollars more expensive with each passing year. The report shows how nuclear weapons costs are beginning to crest as the Pentagon and the Energy Department move into a $1 trillion modernization effort over the next three decades. It is the biggest looming issue in the defense budget. From fiscal 2017 to 2026, it will cost $341.78 billion, including inflation, to buy and sustain new nuclear submarines, aircraft, missiles, bombs, warheads and associated computers, according to the report. [More] Also see: From MAD to Madness Inside Pentagon Nuclear War PlanningandThe Real Culprit in Defense Spending: Strategic Hubris

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